Monthly Archives: December 2008

I am amazed at how many people came through on this for me. In just a few short hours, I had 4 emails and 1 comment on the blog providing me with the full checklist of the 1983 Topps Super Veteran set.

This is the most recent game that I have been to and concludes this series of posts highlighting the baseball games that I have attended. I have offered up 18 games, but in reality have probably been to 30 or so. Careless moments and ticket stubs in the washing machine don’t mix when you are trying to relive past events. I hope that you have enjoyed this series and I will certainly present to you any games I attend in the future.

On to game #18…

I scored these tickets using a 2-for-1 coupon. I was able to get seats right alongside the Marlins bullpen so I made sure I arrived extra early to grab some up-close pictures. When we arrived, Scott Olsen was was firing away in the pen and was quickly joined by most of the Marlin’s starters and several of the bullpen players. It was nice to be there so early with little noise. I clearly remember being able to hear the ‘zip’ of the ball as it raced 60 feet from Olsen to the bullpen catcher.

The game was great, if you were cheering for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays’ bats were hot and were led by Evan Longoria’s 3 for 5 performance which was capped off by a home run. I have to say that it is kind of cool to say that I saw the American League Champions play. The Marlins were terrible, both on offense as well as pitching. The bats were cold, cold, cold…

Now onto the big story of the game – Matt Garza!!! This kid was awesome. He was getting batters out at will and racked up hitless inning after hitless inning. As the game went on, and the hits were not coming and I started to get flashbacks of the Al Leiter no-hitter I witnessed several years prior. 4th inning – no hits. 5th inning – no hits. Do I tell my buddy that I have seen a no-hitter before? Do I mention thosewords? How many people have been to 2 no-hitter in their lives?? WoW!!! 6th inning – no hits. Oh my, it’s going to happen again; too bad there is noone at the park to enjoy this… 7th inning – CRACK!!! Hanley Ramirez launches a deep home run to left field. Gone is the no-hitter. Gone is the shutout. Gone is history. This Marlins only accounted for 1 hit in this game. 1 pitch is what separated my second no-hitter in person from my 1 no-hitter and 1 1-hitter. One hell of an effort by Matt Garza though…

Danny Tartabull was another member of the great rookie class that took baseball by storm during the 1986 season. As a rookie with the Seattle Mariners, Tartabull finished in 5th place for the Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .270 with 25 home runs and 96 RBI. Tartabull spent the next 5 years of his career as a member of the Kansas City Royals and this is where he reached his greatest statistical output. In 5 seasons with the Royals, he finished in the Top 20 for the MVP 2 times. From 1987-1991, Tartabull smashed 124 dingers and amassed 425 RBI along with scoring 276 runs as well. After the 1991 season, Tartabull signed a contract to play for the New York Yankees but was unable to duplicate his prior success and was traded to 3 teams in his final 3 years. In his last season in 1997, Tartabull was with the Phillies. After fouling a ball off of his foot, Tartabull quickly retired from the sport leaving his fans and teammates puzzled.

After 14 seasons in the major leagues, Tartabull retired with a .273 average and tallied 262 home runs and 925 RBI. He appeared in only 1 All-star game and never made the playoffs in his career.

Danny Tartabull is no longer involved with baseball and his rare public appearances since his retirement have been limited to 2 guest-starring roles as himself on Seinfeld in 1994.

Mario from Wax Heaven recently sent over 2 cards that I received in the mail this afternoon. No matter who the donor is, I am always very surprised and grateful that people think of me when they see a specific card. On top of that, offering the cards to me for no fee or trade really lets me know that I belong to a great baseball card collecting community.

On to the good stuff…

1. 1983 Topps Fergie Jenkins – Super Veteran

Although I already owned this card as part of my player collection, this gift from Mario has inspired me to add a new subset to my collection. I want to get all of the 1983 Super Veteran cards. I am not sure how I can obtain a list of all of the players that were in this set, but starting with Fergie Jenkins is a great first step. If anyone knows how I can obtain a checklist of this subset, please pass that information along as it would be greatly appreciated!!

2. 2008 Goudey Andre Dawson – mini

I love this card. I love everything about this card. First, it’s Andre. Second, the design screams vintage which happens to be my favorite kind of card to shop for and admire. I have had this card as well as the base version on my ‘mental want list’ for some time now and now thanks to Mario 1/2 of that task is complete. I’ll have to find the base card to finish this little 2-card set off.

At this time, I would normally plug the person’s blog that sent these cards to me. But, to be honest, I have to imagine at this point that all of the people that have found my blog are readers of Wax Heaven. Hell, it’s likely that several of my readers found me by checking out his page first. Either way, reading Wax Heaven has become part of my daily routine. Checking emails, looking at the box scores from last night’s games, and reading Wax Heaven is a great way to start the day!!

For some reason, Topps didn’t put much effort into their All-Star cards during the mid-80’s. I don’t know why, as any card commemorating something special about the season is always a favorite of mine. This card is supposed to announce that Dave Winfield was an All-Star for the American League.

Koufax’s name is often mentioned in the same breath when people speak of the greatest pitchers of all-time. Truth be told, during his 12-year career with the Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Koufax did not shine until the last 6 seasons he played. But boy did he shine… From 1961 to 1966, Koufax won 3 Cy Young awards and finished in 2nd place 1 time. He also won an MVP award and finished 2nd twice for that honor. It can be easily argued that Sandy Koufax was elected into baseball’s Hall Of Fame for this short, but incredible 6-year span.

So what do you get a guy that has so many accolades to his credit? Sandy Koufax retired at the age of 31. In today’s game there are players that have yet to hit their prime by 31… I would love to see what Sandy could have done with 5 more seasons. So that is my gift, 5 more healthy seasons as a pitcher for the Dodgers.

During the entire month of January, I will be ranking the Top 31 baseball rookie cards issued during the 1970’s. “31 in 31” is exactly that – a dailybreak down of the top 31 rookie cards from the decade that brought us Disco music, The Godfather, Happy Days, and Animal House. In addition to this breakdown, I will also be ranking these cards as to how important the player and the card are to the sport of baseball and our beloved hobby. The ranking will be based on the player’s entire career including individual awards earned, individual milestones surpassed, and team achievements.